So, sourcing new front brake shoes ended up being an easy process that I made difficult. I tried to find the part number that is listed in the Parts Catalog for front drum brake shoes. NLA from Nissan USA of course, as the car never came here, but I had fits getting a sure answer from Nissan Canada (which can get stuff from Japan, hence I had more hope). In the end that didn't pan out, so I had to find an alternative.

410s had front drum brakes, but most online parts places don't have a listing for available brake shoes. Autozone did, however what they sent was a box of rear brake shoes, so that didn't help. The 1500 Roadster also had front drum brakes and after agonizing and comparing photos from Datsunparts.com to what I have on the car, I eventually ordered a set. It was a gamble of $75, but what was I gunna do, run around on 1mm of front brake shoe material for the next 50,000 kilometers?

New shoes. A real PITA to R&R them (those orange springs are very stiff), but I managed with only minor sweating and somewhat-minor swearing. The adjusters are much easier to work with than the test/retest adjusters on the rear.

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

As mentioned, I am using the Painless Wiring 30106 kit, which is for GM LS V8s. I picked this kit because it includes a metric-threaded temperature switch. Painless says it's a 10mm x 1.5 thread, it looks like a 12mm thread to me, but whatever since it threads right in to the upper coolant neck of the SR.

The Painless switch is the larger piece in the center. The right sensor is for the instrument panel and connects up to the stock water temperature wiring.

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

How do you know when your project is getting closer to being completed?

When you have a bunch of these laying around:

I just have to bleed the brakes now that I've replaced the front shoes. Then I can set the car back on the ground for the first time in six months. That'll be a big day. Most of the heavy lifting is done and there are only two big projects remaining - the SU manifold (and associated SU carb purchase) and the distributor modifications.

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Now I need to clean up inside the runners and sand down the weld puddles on the outside. The goal is to get it looking factory-ish, so the finish will likely see a coarse media blast to try to replicate that "as cast" finish. The manifold will still need a balance tube installed, as well as something for the stock linkage to turn in.

But it's closer to being done.

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Finally shortened the eBay extended-spline axles. The axles are hardened, so the carbide bits on the lathe weren't doing much to it. Ended up using a tool-post grinder to cut new c-clip slots, then parting off the excess with my trusty Harbor Freight angle grinder with cut-off wheel.

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

Here's a shot of where I am with the intake manifold. I have rounded off the corners of the flange and done a lot of sanding to remove the visible TIG weld puddles. I've also had to do a lot of work inside the runners. In fact, I still have a ton of work to do on this, including the balance tube and linkage tabs. I also have to get some studs to mount into the carb flanges. Still, it is progress:

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson